Complete Guide To 2012 Fall TV Shows – What Will You Watch?

Published 3 years ago
by
Anthony Ocasio
, Updated July 5th, 2014 at 10:13 am,

The impending 2012-2013 television season may still be months away, but with the addition of over 40 new series, deciding which new TV shows will be added to your viewing schedule may prove to be difficult, even for the most skilled DVR programmer. Fortunately, we’ve combined all of the new series from ABC, CBS, The CW, NBC and Fox into one handy guide.

With many networks deciding to rework portions of their schedule, make sure to check out whether or not your favorite returning series has been moved to a new timeslot (especially if it’s on The CW).

Though we have yet to take a look at any of the new series, the provided pilot trailers usually give a decent representation of how a series could turn out. (ABC’s Revenge being last year’s exception.)

Trying to add any new series to your television viewing schedule is never easy – especially since 65% of new series will be canceled in their first year. That being said, it appears this year the networks are attempting to further evolve their core audiences. Though there are exceptions, when it comes to certain series, viewers can largely expect to see more of what they already enjoy from each network – just more of it.

You can begin your journey into the upcoming television offerings below:

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ABC

Looking to extend their current ratings achievements with Modern Family as the No. 1 comedy, Grey’s Anatomy as the No. 1 drama, and Once Upon a Time as the No 1. freshman drama, ABC has picked up a unique range of dramas and comedies to help fill out their fall line-up.

From learning how to live with your parents in, well, How to Live with your Parents, to meeting the aliens from Zabvron in The Neighbors, ABC certainly offers much needed variety in what’s already an extremely full television landscape. Of course, we’ll have to wait until this fall to see just how well the variety (or aliens) manage.

Continuing to firmly grasp hold of Sunday night programming, ABC is adding Revenge to its weekend schedule. Following Once Upon a Time, ABC is hoping to provide an outlet for families to not only watch television together and then continue building their programming throughout the night – with parents being able to finish out the evening with Terry Quinn’s thrill drama 666 Park Avenue.

Rounding out ABC’s schedule, Castle remains in the same timeslot on Monday’s; Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23 as well as Happy Endings and Private Practice remain on Tuesdays (but will be joined by How to Live with Your Parents and Family Tools in January); the Wednesday line-up adds The Neighbors and Nashville; and Last Resort joins Grey’s Anatomy as well as Scandal on Thursday.

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Drama

666 Park Avenue (Sundays, 10:00 p.m.)

At the ominous address of 666 Park Avenue, anything you desire can be yours. Everyone has needs, desires and ambition. For the residents of The Drake, these will all be met, courtesy of the building’s mysterious owner, Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn). But every Faustian contract comes with a price. When Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable), an idealistic young couple from the Midwest, are offered the opportunity to manage the historic building, they not only fall prey to the machinations of Doran and his mysterious wife, Olivia (Vanessa Williams), but unwittingly begin to experience the shadowy, supernatural forces within the building that imprison and endanger the lives of the residents inside. Sexy, seductive and inviting, The Drake maintains a dark hold over all of its residents, tempting them through their ambitions and desires, in this chilling new drama that’s home to an epic struggle of good versus evil.

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Last Resort (Thursdays, 8:00 p.m.)

500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receive their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House. XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country. Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.

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Mistresses (Midseason)

Welcome to a provocative and thrilling drama about the scandalous lives of a sexy and sassy group of four girlfriends, each on her own path to self-discovery, as they brave the turbulent journey together.

Meet Savi (Alyssa Milano), a successful career woman working toward the next phase in her life — both professional and personal — simultaneously bucking for partner at her law firm while she and her husband, Harry (Brett Tucker), try to start a family of their own. Savi’s free-spirited and capricious baby sister, Josselyn (Jes Macallan), couldn’t be more different – living single, serial dating and partying, and regularly leaning on her big sister along the way. Their common best friend, April (Rochelle Aytes), a recent widow and mother of two, is rebuilding her life after tragedy and learning to move forward, with the support and guidance of her closest girlfriends. And friend Karen (Yunjin Kim), a successful therapist with her own practice, reconnects with the girls after her involvement in a complicated relationship with a patient goes far too deep.

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Nashville (Wednesdays, 10:00 p.m.)

Chart-topping Rayna James (Connie Britton) is a country legend who’s had a career any singer would envy, though lately her popularity is starting to wane. Fans still line up to get her autograph, but she’s not packing the arenas like she used to. Rayna’s record label thinks a concert tour, opening for up-and-comer Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), the young and sexy future of country music, is just what Rayna needs. But scheming Juliette can’t wait to steal Rayna’s spotlight. Sharing a stage with that disrespectful, untalented, little vixen is the last thing Rayna wants to do, which sets up a power struggle for popularity. Could the undiscovered songwriting talent of Scarlett O’Connor (Clare Bowen) be the key to helping Rayna resurrect her career?

Complicating matters, Rayna’s wealthy but estranged father, Lamar Hampton (Powers Boothe), is a powerful force in business, Tennessee politics, and the lives of his two grown daughters. His drive for power results in a scheme to back Rayna’s handsome husband, Teddy, in a run for Mayor of Nashville, against Rayna’s wishes.

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Red Widow (Midseason)

When Marta Walraven’s (Radha Mitchell) husband is brutally murdered, her first instinct is to protect her three young children. Her husband’s business partners – Irwin Petrova (Wil Traval), Marta’s scheming and untrustworthy brother, and Mike Tomlin (Lee Tergesen) — were involved in an illegal drug business deal with rival gangsters, and Marta’s husband paid the ultimate price. She already knows the violent world of organized crime; her father, Andrei Petrova (Rade Sherbedzija), and loyal bodyguard Luther (Luke Goss) are gangsters too. She and her sister Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) had always wished for a safer life without bloodshed and fear. For a while Marta lived happily as a stay at home housewife in San Marta’s cooperation, FBI Agent James Ramos (Mido Hamada) now promises justice.

Marta discovers a tenacity she never knew she had, and takes on the gangsters and the FBI to unveil the truth about her husband’s death. As she digs into this dark underworld, she’ll test her own strength, relying on her resourcefulness, determination and family ties like never before. To get out of this mob, she needs to beat the bad guys at their own deadly game.

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Zero Hour (Midseason)

As the publisher of a paranormal enthusiast magazine, Modern Skeptic, Hank Galliston has spent his career following clues, debunking myths and solving conspiracies. A confessed paranormal junkie, his motto is “logic is the compass.” But when his beautiful wife, Laila (Jacinda Barrett), is abducted from her antique clock shop, Hank gets pulled into one of the most compelling mysteries in human history, stretching around the world and back centuries.

Contained in one of his wife’s clocks is a treasure map, and what it leads to could be cataclysmic. Now it’s up to Hank to decipher the symbols and unlock the secrets of the map, while ensuring the answers don’t fall into the wrong hands – a man they call White Vincent (Michael Nyqvist). With his two young associates, Rachel (Addison Timlin) and Arron (Scott Michael Foster), in tow, along with Becca Riley, a sexy FBI agent (Carmen Ejogo), Hank will lead them on a breathless race against the clock to find his wife and save humanity.

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Comedy

The Family Tools (Midseason)

Mixing family with business is never easy, and Jack Shea (Kyle Bornheimer) is about to learn that lesson the hard way. When Jack’s father, Tony (J.K. Simmons), has a heart attack and is forced to hand over the keys to his beloved handyman business, Jack is eager to finally step up and make his father proud. Unfortunately Jack’s past career efforts have been less than stellar, so everyone seems to be waiting for him to fail. His new job isn’t made any easier by Tony’s rebellious, troublemaker assistant, Darren (Edi Gathegi), and Darren’s flirtatious sister, Liz (Danielle Nicolet), who works at the local hardware store. Yet with the support of his Aunt Terry (Leah Remini) and his oddball yet endearing cousin Mason (Johnny Pemberton), Jack Shea may just find his true calling right at home.

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How to Live with Your Parents (Tuesdays in January, 8:00 p.m.)

Polly (Sarah Chalke) is a single mom who’s been divorced for almost a year. The transition wasn’t easy for her, especially in this economy. So, like a lot of young people living in this new reality, she and her daughter, Natalie (Rachel Eggleston), have moved back home with her eccentric parents, Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins) and Max (Brad Garrett). But Polly and her parents look at life through two different lenses. Polly’s too uptight. Her parents are too laid back. Polly’s conservative when it comes to dating (no action, whatsoever), while her parents are still sexually adventurous. They think Polly turned out okay, so what’s the big deal? Well, they say it takes a village to raise a child…and in Polly’s case, this village is on fire. But with help from her best friend Gregg (Orlando Jones), her lovable yet irresponsible ex-husband Julian (Jon Dore) and her cool and fun assistant Jenn (Rebecca Delgado Smith) Polly takes her first steps toward getting a life, starting with a social one.

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Malibu Country (Fridays in November, 8:30 p.m.)

When Reba Gallagher (Reba) discovers that her husband, Bobby, (Jeffrey Nordling) a country music legend, has a cheatin’ heart, her world is turned upside down. Reba dreamt of becoming a country star herself, but put her career on hold to raise a family. Now she’s questioning all of that, big-time. With the ink on her divorce barely dry, Reba packs up her sharp-tongued mother, Lillie May (Lily Tomlin), her two kids and the U-Haul and heads for sunny California to begin a new chapter. Leaving Nashville in the rear view, they start over at their Malibu residence — the last remaining asset they have. Reba gets to know her new open and loving neighbor Kim (Sara Rue) and her son, Sage, but also discovers that relocation to Southern California is going to be quite an adjustment for a traditional southern belle: the West Coast seems like the polar opposite of Music City, and Reba feels like an outsider. Still, with the support of her family she sets about finding her voice, jump-starting her music career with the help of her new music agent, Geoffrey (Jai Rodriguez), and embracing this chance to begin again.

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The Neighbors (Wednesdays, 9:30 p.m.)

How well do you know your neighbors?

Meet the Weavers, Debbie (Jami Gertz) and Marty (Lenny Venito). Marty, in hopes of providing a better life for his wife and three kids, recently bought a home in Hidden Hills, a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course. Hidden Hills is so exclusive that a house hasn’t come on the market in 10 years. But one finally did and the Weavers got it!

It’s clear from day one that the residents of Hidden Hills are a little different. For starters, their new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Dick Butkis (Ian Patrick) and Larry Bird (Simon Templeman). Over dinner, Marty and his family discover that their neighbors receive nourishment through their eyes by reading books, rather than eating. The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears.

The Zabvronians have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans, awaiting instructions from home, and the Weavers are the first humans they’ve had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can “totally relate” and learn a lot from each other.

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Dane Cook is still around? I thought his 15 minutes ended in 2008. Tyler Labine and Justin Kirk…those two are always funny characters, so I think that sitcom will be cancelled because NBC hates anything funny. Besides Animal Practice, the Goodwin Games, Elementary, Revolution, and Arrow all seem like shows that I’ll watch.

Is it just me or do most of these show’s titles sound like a 4th grader came up with them?

Arrow, revolution, beauty and the beast just cause kristin kreuk is in it, still cant beleive cw kept nikita on fridays thats exactly the reason y it has such low ratings. Nikita is such a good show with plenty of action and drama every week more ppl need to watch it

I would have been on board for Revolution but that time slot… I need to sleep sometime. Everything else is a waste of time. I’d rather watch reruns on the Science Channel of How Things Are Made. That show rules.

I am a bit confused. I never watched the main networks much being a CW girl mostly (I will continue with Supernatural, TVD, Nikita and I will check out Arrow) but I am no so sure about the others. I mean I think maybe Hannibal will be interesting and maybe The Following because they are Thriller types, but the rest…..well let’s just say I hope for the sake of the networks that the new shows are better than their synopsis indicates. I suppose we will see..

And what’s up with ‘Elementary’? Who the hell’s idea was it to turn Dr Watson into an Asian female? (Last I checked, HE was a war veteran who started a medical practice after his injury)
I knew that show would be bad the moment it was announced…

Apparently in all the Sherlock Home tales and books the great detective never said “Elementary My Dear Watson”, as bad a misquote as the often supposed “Play it again Sam” instead of simply “Play it Sam” in “Casablanca “,and Marie Antoinette’s last words as the blade fell toward her nape were ” Alors, je regret riens, I neveur, eveur, sayed, “zo let zem eat ze cake”, I sayed “Qu’ils mangent de la merde”…arrrgh…””

Arrow looks good, surprisingly, and so does Last resort. Hmmm, I just might watch those. Zero Hour, Revolution, and 666 Park Avenue might get a peek out of me, although those 3 look a little more “iffy”.

A lot of these shows look promising to me. I’ll give those that interest me a fair shot at least even though as ya’ll reported, most shows are cancelled fast. By the way, I still don’t know if ABC’s “The River” is coming back again or not?

666 park avenue looks like it could be good i might watch a few episodes and see if i like it. How to live with your parents looks horrible. Vegas i might give a try.made in jersey f no not another lawyer show freaking A all the lawyer shows are the same ivy league obsessed east coast crap that are nothing like being a lawyer blah oh hurray another medical dramady. the mindy project please no just cancel it now please. NBC Fs up everything so non of their shows

Have to Say that VEGAS definitely looks like the best of the pick of NEW shows with the possible exception of REVOLUTION which is running a close second. That said I must admit that the ABC line up feels perverted/distorted.

ABC – With ABC you effectively have
1) A show about evil with satanic overtones
2) A show about an out of control sub captain with nuclear capable misses.
3) A show about mistresses. A show about MISTRESSES! How sad is this?
4) A comedy showing everything NOT to do in a comedy (LIVING WITH YOUR PARENTS FOR THE REST OF…). In the trailer alone we see spilling the beans on Santa Clause, The grandfather naked with his privates barely blacked out and a host of other inappropriate comments for a network comedy show. A late night cable comedy is more appropriate.

Bottom line with ABC is it looks like they are pushing the Overton Window a lot further this season then any prior TV season.

The show “Mistresses” is not about mistresses…did you read the description? The series is actually a remake of the British series, which did show some of the characters in complex relationships. But the US version seems to have only borrowed the name, and the premise of 4 women who are friends. But the description doesn’t say anything about any of them actually being a mistress.

Has anyone else noticed just how many of these shows are featuring actors/actresses who use to be primarily film & stage only?

Seems to me like there are more TV actors/actresses today who were previously film & stage only. What does this say? I believe its a foreshadow of economic times to come, bad times.

Yes there are plenty of movies on the horizon but you typically don’t see Film/Stage actors/actresses going TV unless they have washed out with film/stage or have some big offer being made to appear on TV. Time and time again I’ve heard actors say that TV is harder because its a tighter/more grueling schedule and the pay off (financially) isn’t close to what you get with film (assuming you aren’t starting in box office bombs only).

I believe this increased presence of film/stage actors on TV is a sign that the film/stage industry is tightening its belt and by a good bit. Does anyone here with more access to behind the scenes info of the film industry know if the upcoming Summer schedules (2013 and beyond) seem to be lighter then in years past?

I could be way off base here, but this is my take on why we are seeing more film actors on TV: A lot of actors aren’t all about the paycheck (some most certainly are!), and maybe they want to see what their range is as an actor. TV offers an opportunity film doesn’t: deeper character and story development. A lot can be done with a character in two hours on the big screen, but a TV show allows for several hours a season to develop a character and really make the role their own.

On top of that, TV shows lately have really been pushing boundaries, and showing what can be done on the small screen (many of the shows on AMC, HBO, etc). Heck, a show like Breaking Bad feels more like 40-some hour long movie than TV show to me.

Again, this is all MHO. It could be financial restraints, a combination of that and what I said, or a completely different reason.

This group of shows is a surprising range of maybe-not-so-bad to I-can’t-believe-they’re-putting-this-on-the-air. Zero Hour and Revolution (and maybe The Following just because of Kevin Bacon) are maybes but the rest look surprisingly awful. Why people think Arrow looks good I can’t understand. It is just because he’s hot? No story, no brains, nothing but muscles and supposedly being able to shoot arrows which we don’t even get to see, so no special effects either. Not anywhere near enough to carry a show for me.